Barry Heneghan
Dublin Bay North · Independent · Ireland
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an bPáirtí an Lucht Oibre. This highlights what many families are experiencing right now. Many people have been in contact with me. Even today, I met parents who were under enormous pressure because of the cost of uniforms, books, transport and school activities.”
“I refer to the hundreds of vacant spaces over shops in Dublin, the capital city in which I grew up. I welcome the above-the-shop grant but could we re-examine it in terms of microcompanies or SMEs availing of that grant? It can be difficult for them to avail of the above-the-shop grant.”
“They deserve to know how that supplier was selected, whether public procurement guidance has been followed and why students cannot use an equivalent device that they may already own. Technology undoubtedly has an important role in education. I do not dispute that fact. I came through education while the technology was developing.”
“Anois sa choiste fuinnimh táimid ag caint faoi plug-in solar. In 2024 there was a consultation done by the Department in which Bord Gáis Energy said that plug-in solar systems should be mounted on roofs where possible and hardwired into a dedicated circuit.”
“That contradiction leaves parents and students whom I represent caught in a middle ground. On one hand, the Department is saying they are not mandatory and, on the other, schools are telling parents that they must purchase one. I understand that the Minister of State was in north Dublin.”
“My granny drank raw milk and she lived to 98. We need to look into alternative ways to have locally sourced food. In that regard, I will point to what is happening at EU level and how it ties into this.”
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“Inniu, tá mé ag iarraidh labhairt leis an Aire faoi digital reform. Will the Minister outline the specific reforms under consideration following the Department's review of the barriers for infrastructure delivery, and will these reforms include changes to procurement processes, planning timelines or interagency co-ordination?”
“The national LGBTQI+ inclusion strategy outlines a path forward. Let us follow it. We all know and I have heard across the Chamber today, which I am delighted about, that we need a comprehensive, trans-inclusive ban on conversion therapy with no loopholes. We need the immediate enactment of the disregard scheme to finally remove the historic criminal convictions imposed on them since 1993. The new trans healthcare model which multiple Deputies have raised today, based on informed consent, will be transformative for the community. This is about dignity, rights and basic decency. We have come so far as a country, but we are not done. In the spirit of the month of Pride, we need to do the best we can. We need to bring in legislation that creates real, meaningful and lasting change. I look forward to meeting my new niece.”
“I raised this months ago but the LGBT+ parents' alliance has still not had the opportunity to meet the Taoiseach. I appeal to the Minister of State to ask the Taoiseach to try to get that meeting over the line. It is not good enough and I ask that it be done. Today, I am asking the Government in the spirit of Bród and Pride that we commit to a published, independent equality audit of the assisted human reproduction legislation and engage directly with the parenting alliance. It has emailed the Department, and it is very important. On another issue, the Department of Health needs to publish clear timelines for both amending the legislation and the commencement of the Act. I am delighted to support a programme for Government that mentions so much for this community but we need a whole-of-Government approach.”
“Often, it is part of a broader assault on democracy, equality and dignity. Ireland must not only resist those forces but we must lead by example. I mentioned here three months ago that key stakeholders are struggling to engage with the Department of Health. I ask the Minister of State to ask for an update on the Taoiseach meeting the key stakeholders regarding the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024, as it disproportionately impacts LGBTQI+ families. We cannot allow legislation to become a barrier to recognition. I speak to the Minister of State from a personal background. My sister and her wife are expecting their first child. They are lucky to have conceived that child in Ireland, but if that child had been conceived outside Ireland, my sister's wife would not be recognised as a parent.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle. Ar dtús, is mian liom míle buíochas a rá leis an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Butler, for the passionate way in which she spoke. It has been a good debate about the pride that our Government shows. Pride is not just a celebration. It is a call to action. As we mark it here, we must be clear that there is no room for complacency in Ireland. I am really proud to be in the Dáil, listening from my office and since I have been in the Chamber, to how everyone has spoken about their personal experience and lives, and how we need to stand up to those who are trying to discriminate and push the people in our society down. Around the world, we see co-ordinated attacks. Multiple Members here spoke about Hungary and what just happened to the LGBTQI+ organisation there.”
“A person's economic status should not determine whether he or she can receive dental care. The scheme must be reviewed, fees must be modernised and dentists must be brought back into the system. I appreciate that progress is being made and that planning is under way. I thank the Minister of State and other Ministers for their engagement to date when I have spoken to them about struggling constituents who have reached out to me. The reality is that dental care is not a luxury. It is essential to a child's health, development and well-being. Every child deserves to thrive in every aspect of life. Every child should smile without pain and grow up with dignity and proper care. I believe we have the right vision but we need it to be delivered. I look forward to hearing the Minister of State's contribution. Words are not enough.”
“We cannot build dental services without making public dentistry a supported and attractive career path. A lot of my friends who studied dentistry have emigrated. That is a truth that we must consider. For children who require more complex care, including those needing general anaesthetic, the current waiting time is up to two years. That is the real issue we have on the ground. This is not just an access issue; it is due to a pure neglect of dental services, which places enormous pressure on families. I wish to briefly mention the dental treatment services scheme. We all know it was designed to ensure access for adults with medical cards, but no dentists are participating in it in many counties. That leaves vulnerable people without any dental care at all.”
“That is the case across the board with most of the issues relating to public services that we raise in this Chamber. We must increase the number of dental training places. I welcome the opening last week of the RCSI's purpose-built education centre in Sandyford and the centre under construction at Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown. However, these alone will not solve the crisis. We must create a structured and supportive pathway for dental graduates entering public services. I call for the creation of a national membership scheme for new dental graduates. This would pair new dentists with experienced HSE clinicians. I have friends who are dentists and I spoke to them before today's debate. They said it would be a good idea. They also said it would give them a stronger pipeline into the public system.”
“These are not just isolated cases. I know the Minister of State is aware that it is a national problem. In 2023, more than 208,000 children were eligible for school dental screenings, yet fewer than half that number were seen. This means that more than 100,000 children were not assessed. This represents a 31% drop in screening since 2019. Even as the population of children has continued to rise, the Irish Dental Association has made it clear that this is not sustainable and the gap is growing. As the Minister of State is well aware, staffing is at the core of this problem. I welcome the contributions of other Members. We have heard there are 241 full-time equivalent public dentists working in the system, but that is simply not enough to meet the need. We all know the solution, which requires more recruitment and training.”
“Gabhaim buíochas le Deputy Stanley as an motion seo a chur chun cinn. This motion reflects a shared understanding. The Minister of State has heard multiple Members across this House speak about public dental services, in particular for children, that are under significant pressures. Young parents are in urgent need of our support. I urge the Minister of State not to oppose the motion. When I was knocking on doors across my constituency, one of the things I heard most often during the election campaign in areas like Clontarf, Raheny, Donaghmede, Clongriffin and Darndale was that many people across Dublin Bay North were under stress due to their children not being seen as part of the school dental screening programme. In some cases, children are in fourth or fifth class or even in secondary school before they have a public dental check up.”
“I am delighted to see the new private wires policy announced by the Government today. Will this be just for large-scale energy users like Amazon and the big data centres or will it be able to take eco-villages and small, eco- and sustainable projects away from the grid? We risk having a parallel grid that reduces costs for large corporations but does not really help the Irish people. Does the Taoiseach have any update on the North-South interconnector?”
“Mar is eol don Taoiseach, there are hugely critical recruitment and retention problems for public service workers, go háirithe i mBaile Átha Cliath, i gCorcaigh agus i nGaillimh. These workers include nurses, teachers, gardaí, social workers and paramedics. All of them our key in keeping our public systems functioning. The reality is they are being paid the same whether they are living in Longford or they are living in Lucan or Coolock. They cannot afford to live in the communities they are being asked to serve. In light of this, I ask the Taoiseach if there is any consideration for targeted reliefs, like the key worker scheme that was once used in London, to ensure essential workers can afford to live near their workplace. This is not about preferential treatment.”
“Why should she only be allowed to allow a direct family member to live there, when a student can travel from counties Meath, Galway or Cork to Dublin and avail of that accommodation? It makes complete sense. I do not understand why we allow it just for direct family members.”
“I understand the constraints the Minister is under when it comes to the budget, and he is not 100% aware of what will be in his Department. I go back to my other question. I was wondering if he would clarify his opinion. He will obviously be looking at students in this. The huge burden they have at the moment is accommodation, especially students who are coming to visit and to live in Dublin. The Department of housing is bringing in measures to allow cabins in gardens to be developed. Is the Minister of the opinion that there should not be a restriction that these cabins should only be for direct family members? For example, Mrs. O'Brien has a house and an area where she can put in a cabin.”
“That should be changed so they can be for anyone to live in, which would benefit students who are struggling to find accommodation.”
“I reiterate the worry and terror that the Minister's words have spread. I know he has mentioned the great stuff he is doing, but for these parents who are struggling and the students who are struggling to pay their own way through college, is there reassurance he can give to them? I understand that he is tied by the budget of the Government, and he does not want to speak too soon. As Deputy O'Hara said there are multiple people who woke up in terror and are struggling at the moment with everything going on. There is another thing in that regard. We spoke earlier about students struggling with accommodation and we saw the students up here. Another thing that the Minister for housing is bringing in relates to the granny flats and cabins in the garden. The proposed rules are that they are just for direct family members.”
“When a young student has been separated from their parents due to issues at home there is a huge issue - my friends went through this experience – where SUSI requires a letter from the courts or An Garda Síochána to show they have been separated from their parents. That is something we can reform. A person struggling with a 30 to 40 hours a week college course such as engineering, like I did, does not have the time or resources to go to the courts and get this letter to get the SUSI grant, and then to work in a job on top of that. I welcome the fact there is some movement in the right direction and the Minister said recently that we have to reduce the fees and tackle the real costs, including, as mentioned by Deputy Paul Lawless, rent and transport.”
“Bhíomar ag caint leis an Aire faoi seo an tseachtain seo caite. I hope the comments that caused real concern for young people and parents throughout the country were a blip. We need to be clear: we came together to put a Government together and we created a programme for Government. I remember us all discussing student fees in the course of the formation of the Government. We all decided on the commitment that the Government would, "Continue to reduce the Student Contribution Fee over the lifetime of the Government ... in a financially sustainable manner". That is the programme for Government we all signed up for, so I really do hope this was just a blip on the Minister’s end. I graduated this time last year and I have seen close up how students and parents sacrifice and borrow. There is another matter I wish to raise.”
“It would really help and it would be the most beneficial. I do not understand why we limit modular builds to direct family members. It makes no sense. I support the Bill. It is a part of wider reform. I welcome the engagement the Minister has had with me so far. I want to see him bring forward stronger measures to force activation, strengthen local authority capacity to get stuff done, and put delivery first. We had a group in the audiovisual room today talking about building above shops. As I am a Dublin TD, I need to quickly mention this in the last ten seconds. The infrastructure is already there. We do not need private wires or more water connections. They already have connections underneath in the shops. If the Minister can bring in reform that would help above-shop development, it would really help.”
“New apartment developments of 300 units require 300 separate connections but if we can bring in private wires, not anything huge but under 5 MW, for developers to have one connection for those apartments, it would speed up the development. One key element is that, when built, they are owned by the residents. Before I go off on a rant on this, I refer to the news that the Minister gave about the modular homes. Is it still to be the case that modular homes will be only for direct family members? If it is, I urge the him to look again at that. If people have room to build a modular home in the back of their garden, why should that only be for a family member when there is someone up or down the road who could help his or her son or there is a student coming here? We are trying to put as much possible in. I urge the Minister to look at that.”
“Carla Keegan is waiting there with her two children as a house down the road is there for a year boarded up. DCC and all the local authorities across Ireland need the vacant and derelict sites register to be enforced with more staff members and have key targets because sometimes, as Deputy McGrath mentioned, people who are not elected in these roles are not held accountable and then it is politicians who take the brunt of the public's rage when they do not have key targets for their workforce. I would like the Minister to put in key targets for civil servants. I have mentioned the issue of private wires and how they would really help hundreds of times. The Minister knows himself that it is one of the most practical and urgent structural changes. Previous speakers have talked about water and electricity.”
“It is a huge bottleneck, but it is losing developers money, which will, in turn, lose developments and slow up delivery. Across Dublin Bay North, we have land zoned, permission granted and development stalled. The Minister himself knows - both the local authorities, Dublin City Council, DCC, and Fingal, have spoken to me about this - where permissions exists the timelines are too weak and too many developers are sitting the land banks waiting for prices to rise. It is not doing any public good. Something else I have spoken about previously is the vacant and derelict sites register. It is understaffed in Dublin. We have hundreds of houses boarded up. I have young mothers with children coming to me and right around the corner are houses that are boarded up. One of them gave me her permission.”
“It is also hilarious how some Members talk about the housing crisis, yet when you look at their record, they are consistently objecting to housing developments in their own constituencies. Talk about talking out of both sides of their mouth. However, all that is fine. There are real legal snags that deserve attention. We are talking about the marginal fixes. I really want to comment on how planning law is out of sync with reality. I have mentioned in the House and spoken to the Minister previously about the funding of the Housing Finance Agency, HFA, and how it only meets once a month. I urge him to look into that. Developers who are waiting for sign-off on developments are losing money. Foreigners want to invest in Ireland but how can they take us seriously when the HFA is only meeting once a month?”
“I welcome the Bill. It makes good, necessary adjustments. It reflects some of the responsiveness to what has been a frustrating planning environment but we need to be clear that the issue is not primarily judicial review. I have been listening to every Member. There are so many good ideas in the House but we need the planning law that we are making now to drive delivery, not only manage delay. I acknowledge that the Bill provides clarity on permissions under the 2000 and 2024 Acts and how they interact, and it gives temporary breathing room for inactivated permissions. It also rightly acknowledges that some permissions are caught up but Members across the House have spoken about how it is ridiculous that someone in Galway can object to developments in Dublin.”
“The Dublin Bay area has the coastline. In this regard, I commend Deputy Bacik on introducing the Dublin Bay Bill. At present, there are fortnightly tests of water quality with no real-time information. The coastline does not have bacterial sensors. I acknowledge that a lot will be done through legislation but one thing I want to know is whether the Cabinet committee on infrastructure will consider, in addition to the huge investment that is already going into the wastewater treatment plant in the context of the combined sewer outflows, especially at Clontarf and Raheny, and Ringsend and Sandymount on the southside, putting in detention ponds with integrated constructed wetlands, ICWs. These are low cost and have a high outcome when it comes to filtering water and adding biodiversity to an area. I would like an update on that.”
“An tseachtain seo caite bhí Deputy Brabazon ag caint faoi Belgrove girls' school. Since then a decision was made by the diocese not to allow the addition of a privately sourced teacher for the school. I do not understand how religious entities can dictate public schools' resourcing of their teachers. Is there anything that can be done for Belgrove girls' school?”
“It is really shocking to these people, especially people who are really concerned about our history, which is all of us. People are worried and rightly so. Má táim chun caint faoi rud éigin i mBaile Átha Cliath thuaidh, is gá dom caint faoin tsráid timpeall an chúinne, Sráid an Mhúraigh. I really welcome the recent decision by Dublin City Council to back the State's purchase of Moore Street. I went to Moore Street and spoke to the campaigners. They have been campaigning for 25 years to preserve it and they should not have had to do that. It is a site of immense historical significance. Dublin has enough shops. We need to give spaces for the arts and spaces where people can come into the city and nurture our history. The GPO and Moore Street should not be sold off. They should be protected, preserved and passed on to future generations.”
“Tá Ard-Oifig an Phoist ar cheann de na foirgnimh is cáiliúla in Éirinn. Tá a fhios ag gach duine sa Teach seo cén fáth. Deirim i gcónaí le turasóirí chun dul chuig Músaem Ard-Oifig an Phoist i mBaile Átha Cliath. Foghlaimíonn siad faoi stair na hÉireann, ón Éirí Amach go dtí an lá atá inniu ann. Cloisim na rudaí sa nuacht faoi láthair. Céard faoi réiteach cruthaitheach? Caithfear an stair a choimeád agus a chruthú. The GPO is not just a building. It is the beating heart of our country's revolutionary history. The worrying thing for my constituents, when they reached out to me when I knocked on doors at the weekend, was the vagueness of the plans. I welcome what the Minister of State said in this House today but we need to be clearer when we are making statements about the GPO.”
“I welcome that the review calls for investment in professional learning but we also need urgent reform of what is blocking these people's qualifications from being recognised. If people are short a single module because they qualified in the UK, let us call a national panel of our country's specialists, hold the event in the National Conference Centre, deliver the module, test it and qualify them fast. This is a crisis. Let us treat it like one. Let us apply a Covid-level response. These professionals are already on the critical skills list. Let us let them get the critical work. The children and parents cannot wait any longer. I would love if the Minister of State would look at this issue.”
“I welcome the publication of this report. I thank the Minister of State for the fast engagement with the issues I raised with him concerning north Dublin. I have one issue I would like to raise with a simple solution. One of the greatest obstacles we are facing in the delivery of inclusive education is the shortage of therapists. One of the solvable bottlenecks is the delay in recognising foreign qualifications. It is mentioned in the programme for Government that we are going to try to fast-track the recognition of qualifications. The issue is that while CORU's published timeline states recognition will take four months, I have met professionals in my area who have waited 12 months, 18 months and nearly two years to have the qualification they received in the UK recognised.”
“I reiterate what Deputy Ó Muirí said. We need to get a temporary solution for this. There was clearly an error with the appeals. Is there any way to find an alternative solution for these parents and the children who will be put into a class size such as this? It will affect their learning and their experience. These are young girls who are already under enough stress. There has to be something here. Can an exemption be made for the school? Can a different funding source be used to keep this teacher on board? Both schools are under real stress. All the parents would like some update from the Department. I understand the Minister of State's reference to the programme for Government and the ratio we are looking at, but this school will go backwards on that.”
“This is not a choice; it is the result of the regulation I just mentioned. The Department of education is only looking at the overall numbers within the school, but this can translate into having huge classes or splitting the class levels, which is not ideal for the learning of our up-and-coming generation. I urge the Minister of State and every Member to put as much pressure on this to get a solution. The parents would be really appreciative. The Minister of State would be too if his child were being forced into a school classroom that would affect his or her learning. I hope we can get a solution to this. I thank Deputy Ó Muirí and all the Deputies who have worked hard to try to get a solution to this.”
“I will reiterate what Deputy Ó Muirí said. Belgrove infant girls' school, located beside the school I went to as a young boy, is being forced to merge two classes together. Hundreds of parents and children who are really stressed by this have approached me as I walk the streets of my local community . I do not understand how the fact that the school's current enrolment numbers for next year are above the threshold but the Department cannot give a temporary solution to this. The school will exceed the numbers. I understand that the rules are set that it has to be on 30 September, but can a temporary solution be given to this school? I also reiterate what Deputy Ó Muirí said about the Howth primary school, Scoil Mhuire. The two second classes are being merged into a single class of 35 students.”
“We cannot talk about climate without talking about Dublin Bay, in my constituency. Dublin Bay recently had a huge issue with E. coli. This needs to be looked at by the Government. It is not happening on the southside of Dublin. It is northside swimmers who are being affected by E. coli.”
“I agree 100%, especially if you look at how the public view any other government waste. We now have a chance at the start of this Government term to bring this in as fast as possible and save us hundreds of millions. I refer especially to projects like the North-South interconnector. We may be hit with EU fines. The recent Spanish grid failure should be a wake-up call for us. We need resilience. The North-South transmission line will also help lower prices by an estimated 5%. That is huge for a family that is struggling. We also need to make sure that data centres do not use private wire legislation as a greenwashing tactic. Private wires should be used to decarbonise the sector. We have a chance to do this right and we need it to be brought towards a committee for scrutiny as fast as possible.”
“I know €90 million went into Cork Port, but we need to be putting hundreds of millions into it because the giant vessels that will be going into these ports to create our ORE development will not fit in the port as it is. We can invest hundreds of millions right now which will save us tens of billions in the future. I urge this Government to do that, and I would like the current update on private wire legislation.”
“The CRU's recent announcement regarding data centres will probably mean that data centres will be built along the M50, where fibre connectivity is good. However, it is important that thermal power generation is only used as a rare back-up and that excess wind power on the grid is used to charge the large battery banks in the winter, when solar generation is low. We have to be honest. We saw the figures recently published by the EPA. The report shows that if the plans are fully implemented, which I doubt they will be, we will only deliver a maximum emissions reduction of 22% by 2030. We have a huge chance now, before the summer recess, to bring in private wire legislation, and I urge this Government to do so. On another point, we should invest hundreds of millions right now into our ports.”
“The Gallery is full of members of the public who, through their taxes, will face the fines levied on the country if we do not reach our EU targets. When I qualified for my degree, I asked my professor what is the smallest thing we could do that would have the biggest output. He said it is private wire legislation. In January, I gave a Bill to the OPLA in which I proposed two modest interim measures. These involved changing section 37 of the 1999 Act. We need to allow renewable projects to use private wires to connect to the grid. It is not fair. According to EirGrid's transmission development plan of 2012, there is a further 13.3 GW of wind-generated energy and 9.5 GW of energy generated in other ways in the queue of applications.”
“Ba mhaith liom caint inniu faoi rud éigin atá i mbéal an phobail faoi láthair, an issue that is really crucial to Ireland's climate ambitions and something I have really championed, that is, private wire legislation. It is stated in the programme for Government that such legislation will be expedited. We all support that programme for Government but this is not being done fast enough. Countries like Denmark and the UK have moved ahead while Ireland still has gigawatts of renewable energy waiting for connection. I have spoken to multiple people with solar farms or wind farms who have waited periods of 18 months or nearly two years for EirGrid and the ESB to connect those facilities to the grid. This is not acceptable. This delay will cost us billions.”
“I welcome the fact that the Department is looking at that. Budget 2026 should be focused on that but a second tier payment should not replace what we already have. We need to build on it. It would target families facing higher costs while protecting the certainty and simplicity of universal child benefit. There is an opportunity to act on this evidence. The system works well for many but the people whose doors I am knocking on are struggling. This is a chance to make child income supports fairer and more effective for those who need them most. At the same time, we need to focus on those people across the board, not just in terms of the Department of Social Protection. There are going to be huge issues coming into the winter. We do not know what will happen in the Middle East. There may be increases in fuel and other costs.”
“A second tier of child benefit would go directly to where the pressure was most intense and help to close the gap in a fair and targeted way.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. Aontaím leis. Child benefit already plays a vital role, but recent estimates are that between 150,000 to 230,000 children are experiencing poverty and we now have clear evidence that a large number of families are still being left behind by this threshold. There is a major impact on these families. They are still working hard, but they are struggling with the cost of living. Will the Department examine a second tier payment for low- and middle-income families? Once one factors in rent and the extra costs that come with raising a child with any additional needs, it becomes clear that income alone is not the full picture. We are seeing a real squeeze on households that do not qualify for means-tested supports but are far from financially secure.”
“Will the Minister provide an update on the Department's consideration of a second-tier child benefit scheme? Research by the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, and Social Justice Ireland shows that a growing number of families are experiencing real deprivation despite being just above the income thresholds for most supports. A targeted measure like this could be transformative. Is it being actively considered by the Department?”
“People with disabilities are unable to use Clontarf or Clongriffin DART stations because the lift is continuously out of order. I reference another European city that has an app that shows people real-time data. I know we are doing that but it is not as quick. It needs to show exactly when the lift is out of order so that people are informed and told where they can go. Go n-éirí leat i do phost nua, a Aire. He will do a great job and I look forward to working with him.”
“We need to reflect the scale of the barriers people with disabilities still face when using public transport. I acknowledge that we are seeing progress but there are problems with bus stop design in many areas, particularly along the Clontarf Road in north Dublin. At several bus stops on the recently upgraded cycling network, I have witnessed near collisions and there have been serious injuries. I raised this matter with Dublin City Council, the NTA and the Government. We cannot pit one transport user's experience against another. Public safety and accessibility must be the cornerstone of our transport infrastructure. We see where it is being done well, but there are a lot of places where the same design was not implemented. I will raise another matter.”
“I welcome the Government decision not to oppose the motion. Continued investment in public transport is essential if we are to deliver on our climate obligations. We need to acknowledge, as others did recently, that there are now 1 million daily users as well as the expansion of the Local Link network. We need to make it easier for people to use public transport. Everyone here has travelled to European cities and been amazed by the fact that they can just tap with their phones. The Leap card system is good, but surely it can be adapted to allow people to use their phones. The NTA has said that it will take one or two years, but it should not take that long to adapt a small chip to give people travelling a tap-on experience. I will reference accessibility.”
“It is not just about raising revenue, but about reinvesting in the communities paying these taxes and paying for amenities in places where people can gather, learn and play. This is what a fair and functional local property tax system should deliver. We should not underestimate the pressure that councillors are under. I was one and people think the councillor is the person making this decision. Who are they not to blame? If we are going to empower local government to make real change, let us start by giving councillors more autonomy over the direct funds raised when they are the ones deciding and going to be under the hammer. If we believe in community and participation, then let us hand this decision back and give more power to the councillors.”
“The local authority and the relevant civil servants decide where the money goes. The councillors can give their opinions and sign off on it, but they do not have enough power. I want to see councillors being able to decide there is a need for public toilets, a disability centre or more funding for the local GAA club. This is something I would really like to see, and not with ten layers of approval from Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council or any of the local authorities. It matters for the people living in an area and paying this tax to know where the money is going and that the people they are voting for will have the ability to divert these tax revenues. This is what the tax is supposed to do.”
“Working on Dublin City Council, I could see the centralised decision-making and standardised funding process. The local authorities and, in particular, councillors do not have the decision-making abilities they should have with regard to the local property tax. I am well aware they will be able to vote on whether the local property tax goes up or stays at the same rate but a clear system is needed to allow councillors to see where Dublin City Council is spending the local property tax increase and to decide where this increase in tax revenue will be put in their local areas. If councillors are going to be held responsible by the public for the lack of local services in their areas, then they need to have power over local budgets. It is not the case, from my experience, that councillors have enough power in their local areas.”
“I rith an toghcháin, agus mé ag caint le daoine ag na doirse, bhí go leor daoine ag cuir ceist orm faoi seo. An cheist a bhí acu ná, “cá bhfuil an t-airgead ag dul?”. Caithfimid bheith níos soiléire faoi na háiteanna ina bhfuil an t-airgead don LPT ag dul. Is rud é sin gur gá dúinn díriú isteach air. For most households, the message is pretty straightforward. Property values have gone up. In Dublin especially, local property tax will also go up. For houses valued at under €425,000, the increase is likely to be about €30 or €50 annually. That might sound fair on paper but the people whose doors I knocked on did not know where this money was going. That needs to be clear. We need to show the people paying the local property tax where exactly their extra taxes are going. I have only recently been elected to this House.”